


If I Could Turn Back Time

by ChillyHollow



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, Death, Destiny, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23278351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow
Summary: Cormoran thinks about fate in a JK Rowling/Robert Galbraith crossover story.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	If I Could Turn Back Time

He sat smoking at his desk, looking at the necklace laying on his desk, thinking.Each day was a trip into the unknown for everyone.It’s just most of the time we don’t look at it that way.We think that our daily routines will continue forever.The commute to work, the stop at the same place for coffee, the lunch at the desk or on stakeout, the trip to the pub with our mates after work—we do the same things over and over without regard for Fate lurking around the corner to plant a bomb at the coffee shop, the pub, in the innocent looking sidewalk bin.Of course these days it was more likely to be a literal bomb that would explode our lives but even walking across the street meant taking a chance that a speeding cab wouldn’t run us over.

It was those accidents that made us who we are.His encounter with an improvised explosive device had permanently crippled him and ensured he lived with pain every day.That had changed him in many ways.He wouldn’t have asked Charlotte to marry him if that bomb hadn’t gone off, ending his military career and sending him finally to this little office high in an old building that had seen better days.She had nursed him during his recovery while he learned to walk again and for once been the rock in their relationship.It hadn’t lasted.Charlotte's need for drama and chaos had upended their engagement and he’d finally walked out for good. 

But if that IED had not gone off when it had, what would his life be like today?Did he want to change that?No.It was best that he and Charlotte were permanently apart.Pain was part of life.He’d like to have his lower leg back and feel strong and invincible again.But he knew that other things lurked in his future. If he didn’t cut back on the smoking he risked lung damage or a heart attack.There is always something trying to damage us physically.Changing just one thing (and he knew he only had one re-roll of the dice) wouldn’t protect him from another physical ailment that could be as damaging or even kill him.

Would he try to save his mother?No, that was futile.Her life was set to Self-Destruct from the moment she was born.The eternal party girl, she had flirted with danger most of her life.That was the way she wanted it, and no matter how much she loved her children—and he knew she loved him and Lucy with every bit of her soul—she was never going to waver from her appointment with Death.If he managed to swerve her off the road briefly, she’d be back on it the next day, headed full throttle toward her destiny.

Would he try to keep Robin safe?He could keep her from the appointment with her rapist, send him after another innocent girl, and release her from the traumatic hell she’d endured.But at what cost?He would spare her pain but what would that do to her life?She’d graduate on time, probably go on to a career in psychology, and marry her long-time sweetheart, the black-hearted Matthew.That way lay pain of a different sort.She’d find out that Matthew was a cheat in another way and she’d never cross his threshold and bring light to his life every day, to be selfish about it.She might never find the steel within her soul or the career she loved.That was too high a price to pay to save her from pain.

He handed the necklace with the hourglass charm back to his visitor who had spent the last half hour smoking a pipe in the visitor’s chair, patiently waiting for him to decide.“No thanks, Uncle Ted.Take this back to where you found it.We don’t need to tamper with destiny today.” 

**Author's Note:**

> For those who haven't read "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," the miniature hourglass on the necklace allows one to travel back in time.
> 
> Inspired by me wondering if I could travel back in time two weeks, would I buy extra toilet paper and chocolate?


End file.
